


Clouds passing over the moon.

by ConvenientAlias



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Gen, Marriage, Post-Canon, Reunions, Scars, past tyzula
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-11-16 08:23:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18090833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConvenientAlias/pseuds/ConvenientAlias
Summary: After the war ends, Ty Lee leaves the Fire Nation for a long time. It’s not entirely on purpose; she’s joined up with the Kyoshi Warriors, and their travels are mostly confined to the Earth Kingdom. It’s not exactly not on purpose either; Ty Lee still has some love for her nation, flawed as it is, and for her people, but there are also things she wants to get away from for a while.But one year in early spring the news gets around to her that Mai and Zuko are getting married, and she knows she can’t stay away anymore.





	Clouds passing over the moon.

After the war ends, Ty Lee leaves the Fire Nation for a long time. It’s not entirely on purpose; she’s joined up with the Kyoshi Warriors, and their travels are mostly confined to the Earth Kingdom. It’s not exactly not on purpose either; Ty Lee still has some love for her nation, flawed as it is, and for her people, but there are also things she wants to get away from for a while. For as long as she can manage.

But one year in early spring the news gets around to her that Mai and Zuko are getting married, and she knows she can’t stay away anymore.

“I’ll be gone for a while,” she tells the girls. “Probably until the wedding itself—Mai will need all the support she can get.”

Suki takes her aside and tells her that she doesn’t have to return if she doesn’t want to. They’ve confided enough in each other that Suki knows why it is that Ty Lee has stayed away so long, and she knows that even if Ty Lee’s putting a brave face on it, part of her is afraid of returning.

But Ty Lee smiles brightly and tells her not to worry. “All that stuff was a long time ago. Besides, Zuko and Mai need me.” Mostly Mai—Zuko has, from his letters, a growing number of friends and supporters, stretching from the Avatar to various retired soldiers who’ve benefited from his policies regarding veterans. But Mai, in her letters, remains the same girl as always: always a little bit separate from the herd.

“They can probably get along without you. I mean, they are the Firelord and the future Firelady. I’m sure they have help.”

“When you’re getting married, your friends should be there for you,” Ty Lee says. “I should be there. But thank you for worrying about me.”

She’s always been grateful for the support the Kyoshi Warriors have given her, a former enemy, the chance at a new and very different life. Suki in particular—she has always been very kind.

She curls the warmth of this moment carefully around her inner fire. In days to come, she thinks, she might well need it.

* * *

 

Even though the wedding isn’t for another month when she arrives, the capital is already teeming with people working on preparations or there for the ceremony. The Avatar is there with a number of his friends, Sokka and Katara and Toph. General Iroh has returned temporarily from Ba Sing Se. Many members of the old Order of the White Lotus have arrived with him—Piandao and Jeong-Jeong have returned from diplomatic matters and the mad king of Omashu has for some reason decided he’s a necessary addition to any wedding party. And something like a hundred thousand tourists. In the streets, Ty Lee has to wriggle through crowds, and she wonders how Mai is taking it.

Mai and Zuko are happy to see her, of course. Zuko, who has always been kind of awkward with her, is still awkward as a Firelord but manages a hug and says some very nice things. Mai keeps her by her side all day and drags her off to her bedroom in the evening, when she has no more business to attend to.

“I love Zuko,” she says flatly, “but this whole thing makes me want to die. Do you know how many clothes fittings I have gone to in the past week? I only need one wedding robe, and yet I have gone to the tailor’s eleven times.” She sprawls out on her bed. “And that’s the least of it. They keep saying I can leave the arrangements to the palace officials, who know everything about tradition…”

“Well, maybe you should,” Ty Lee suggests.

“…but the traditional ceremony focuses so much on the glory of the Fire Nation and its royal family, and we will have like a thousand foreign dignitaries here, and…” Mai sighs. “But we’ll also have the entire Fire Nation watching us, so we can’t drop those elements entirely. And Zuko’s much too busy with diplomatic matters for it to be his job, so it’s all on me.”

She rambles on, slightly less monotone than usual. Ty Lee can’t help but be reminded of Azula. Not that Mai is anything like Azula, of course she isn’t—still, Azula wasn’t always bad, and there were times like this when Ty Lee and Mai sat and listened to her rant, not always understanding her problems but knowing she just wanted an audience. Ty Lee has always been a good audience. Mai, it seems, has turned into more of a performer. But so it must be; her relationship with Zuko has, since he became Firelord, put her constantly in the center of attention. And she isn’t like Ty Lee, really—she’s a team player but she’s still good at standing on her own. Not Ty Lee’s strength.

So Ty Lee wanders around with Mai to all her appointments, standing just a little behind her (ostentatious in her Kyoshi warrior uniform, which she refuses to take off). She helps out when she can. She has no experience in wedding arrangements and little knowledge of the current diplomatic situation (except from the Kyoshi warriors’ standpoint) and Mai hates her taste in food and clothes, but she still comes in handy occasionally. At least she can make jokes that make Mai snort, relieving a little of her stress.

In the evening, they and Zuko meet up at the royal hot springs. It’s a private bath, though big enough to be public. Ty Lee assumes Mai and Zuko usually get up to hinky stuff here, but since Mai’s dragged her along they all wear their bathing suits and just sit in the water.

Her Kyoshi uniform covers up a lot of her body, performs the function of armor. Her bathing suit, on the other hand, is a normal bathing suit. And so, when she arrives at the bath, Zuko’s eyes drop to the braided scar on her stomach. It occurs to her he’s never seen it before; she joined the warriors so soon after getting out of prison, he never had the chance.

Mai, who has seen it before, pulls him into the water with a silencing look. But Ty Lee doesn’t mind his curiosity. She says, “I got this from Azula. But it was an accident.”

Mai rolls her eyes. They’ve talked about this before—Mai doesn’t classify it as an accident. But Mai is protective.

“It was at the Boiling Rock. She came to visit us, after, even though she said she wouldn’t when she had us locked up. She couldn’t help herself, I guess.” Ty Lee was scared at the time; now she thinks it sad, that Azula couldn’t keep away. “She got angry and burst out with flame. I don’t think she really meant to burn me. She looked surprised, and she stormed away right after.”

“Azula did some terrible things,” Zuko says.

Ty Lee shrugs. What is there to say?

Zuko leans on Mai’s shoulder. “You know, Katara could probably help with that, if you want. She once offered to heal my scar.”

“It doesn’t bother me. These days it’s mostly covered, anyway.”

“You like to wear clothes that show your stomach, though.”

“Yeah…” Ty Lee considers it. It’s true the scar embarrasses her a little. Still, she’s had it for some years now. The thought of erasing it is oddly disturbing. She cocks her head. “Why didn’t Katara heal your scar then, Zuko?”

“We got interrupted,” Zuko said drily. “But she’s asked again since then… I don’t know. People know me with this scar. And I used to see it as a symbol of my failure to please my father, but I’m not sure that’s a bad thing anymore. And I’m used to it.”

They regard each other. He’s very frank, talking about these thing. Then again, she’s frank enough talking about Azula these days. It’s not that these things don’t cut close to the bone, it’s that they’ve both had practice, and being straightforward about it hurts less than trying to evade the subject.

“Maybe I’ll talk to Katara,” she says after a moment. The idea of losing the scar isn’t that bad, really, and she doesn’t know why it bothers her. “Anyways, how was your day, Zuko?”

As one might expect, it was a complete nightmare.

* * *

 

If going to the capital doesn’t make Ty Lee dream more of Azula, it’s only because she never stopped dreaming about Azula in the first place. Azula creeps through her dreams always—sometimes in her body and sometimes fragmented, turned into a metaphor—a stray touch on the back or side, the smirking lips of a stranger, the smell of an oncoming thunderstorm.

She does think about Azula more waking here, in the streets they used to walk together. Mai never brings her up. Ty Lee only knows Azula’s current situation through the grapevine: in an asylum now instead of a prison. Maybe that’s good.

She can’t bring herself to visit her. She knows seeing her once would never be enough.

Mai is stronger with Zuko than she was with Azula, and Ty Lee would like to be like that. She has told herself time and time again, “I am stronger without Azula.” But it’s not true, is it? She’s freer without Azula. But Mai and Ty Lee and Azula were a force together, a force to be reckoned with. Ty Lee hasn’t felt so strong since. The Kyoshi Warriors are her friends and companions, but they don’t mesh the same way—Ty Lee already knows from experience, from lived proof, that she and Mai and Azula could defeat them all in a matter of minutes. It’s like she used to be a giant walking among ants, and now she’s become one of the ants.

It’s not really a nice way of thinking of things. But sometimes she can’t help it.

If she sees Azula again, it will only hurt her. It will only hurt them both. She stays away.

* * *

 

On the night before the wedding, Ty Lee takes Mai out drinking. There’s no official party for the bride, unlike the semi-official bachelor party being thrown for Zuko, which is probably for the best. Mai has been craving solitude. They practically disguise themselves in generic red robes and slip through the streets, only occasionally recognized. They get mildly drunk—not so much that Mai will have a hangover tomorrow—and then go walking in the royal gardens.

“This is it,” Mai says.

“Yeah,” Ty Lee says. She hops up on a rail as they take a bridge over a tiny stream. “Do you feel excited?”

“I don’t know.” Mai leans on the rail herself. “…I’ve known this would happen for a long time. And we’ve been planning so much. But tomorrow’s the day.” She tucks a hair behind her ear. “I don’t know.”

“If you don’t know whether you want to marry him,” Ty Lee says seriously, “we can run away tonight and you can join the Kyoshi warriors, and never come back.”

Mai doesn’t laugh, she just smiles. “Thanks, Ty Lee. You always know what to say.” A pause. “I want to marry Zuko. I want to be his Firelady, I’ve been preparing for it all this time. But thinking about tomorrow… it just feels empty somehow. I’m supposed to be more excited. But I’m just stressed. It feels like something’s bound to go wrong.”

Ty Lee says, “Yeah. But you’re always pessimistic. So I think that’s okay.”

Now Mai does laugh. Just a little.

“Hey.” Ty Lee jumps down from the rail and gives Mai a hug. “If something does go wrong, it won’t matter. The two of you will be married anyways. It’s not like Zuko’s going to get cold feet.”  

“No. Zuko actually does seem excited. Did you see him earlier? Genuine sparks in his eyes.” Mai smiles fondly.

“I’m happy for you,” Ty Lee says.

Tomorrow the Firelord will be married. There will be a Firelady. So time moves on… There is a cloud passing over the moon, and in a moment it will be gone, and the moon will be bright again. Ty Lee thinks about Azula, the cloud who passed over the throne. She wonders if Azula, shut away and rejected, will ever have a night like this one.

She doesn’t think she will herself. But then, she’s never thought much about marriage.

* * *

 

When Ty Lee returns to the Kyoshi warriors, little has changed. They want to hear all about the royal wedding, and she tells them all about it. Suki is sorry she couldn’t go; she and Zuko know each other somewhat through the Avatar, though they aren’t exactly friends. Ty Lee says she gave Zuko and Mai their best wishes anyways, though in fact she forgot to.

So life returns to normal. The Kyoshi warriors are talking about going back to Kyoshi Island soon. They’ve only returned once since Ty Lee’s been with them, mostly travelling and helping to rebuild the Earth Kingdom, occasionally fighting renegade bands of stray soldiers who have no work in peacetime or gangs of bandits—or groups of both combined, which is the more likely. Kyoshi is isolationist, and the warriors have gotten a taste for the world. Still, home is home, and they want to return.

“I wonder whether it will have changed any,” Suki ponders. “My father’s letters don’t say so, but sometimes he leaves things out.”

“I’m sure it will be just the same,” Ty Lee says brightly. “Don’t worry about it.”

Suki shrugs. “Well, I don’t mind if things have changed. The place is too traditional anyways. Remember, they barely let you in last time!”

Ty Lee laughs. Though in fact, that had been a little harrowing. “Oh well, they got used to me. It’ll be great to see the place again.”

Her home away from home—or maybe just her home these days. Or maybe her home is just with the warriors. She isn’t sure, but perhaps that’s for the best. She’s at her best on the road, always going one place or another, never still for long. Nor does she retrace old paths more than she can help, or stand still waiting for the past to catch up with her.

**Author's Note:**

> I decided, this morning, that I should write more gen. Haven't written much of it lately. So I decided to write a fic where Ty Lee had a scar and talked to Zuko about it. Then I wrote this. I guess this is technically that?  
> Anyways I think this fic is sort of a sister fic to "changing, losing, staying". I don't think the two coexist very well, but they share some feels. They like...get along.  
> Also every time I allow Azula into a fic she just fuckign takes over. I guess those are the rules.  
> If you enjoyed, I'd love to hear from you in the comments! Or come chill with me on tumblr at convenientalias.


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